Switch question

A buddy of mine gave me an original looking switch for my B. I noticed the donor tractor had a coil and mine is a mag. Most sellers have two different switches but my friend says it will work fine. I trust him but thought I should double check. Thanks!

A coil ignition switch has 2 terminals. Hook one to
ground and turn the switch ON to STOP the tractor.
The Mag style switch has only one terminal and
grounds internally. So yes, you can use a battery
ignition switch on a mag tractor but not the other
way around.

(quoted from post at 05:31:57 11/17/11) A buddy of mine gave me an original looking switch for my B. I noticed the donor tractor had a coil and mine is a mag. Most sellers have two different switches but my friend says it will work fine. I trust him but thought I should double check. Thanks!

Click to expand...

If you are talking about the push/pull ignition switch, the switch for the mag has just one terminal, and the switch for the battery distributor has two terminals, and the two switches cannot be substituted for each other.

And (just to make sure) do not connect it to power, just ground. Jim

Everyone before is correct.

Just for clarity . . .

The switch for the battery ignition will have two terminals on the bottom. With the switch closed (button UP) it conducts power from the battery to the points and on to the coil in the ignition, allowing he motor to run. With the button DOWN, the switch is opened, breaking the circuit, robbing the igntion of the power it needs to run. The inner workings of this switch are insulated from its body so as not to ground the elecrical circuit.

The switch for the magneto ignition will have a single terminal. It is connected by wire to the grounding terminal of the mag. Internally, it works just the opposite. Button UP is with the switch OPEN, so that the single terminal is not making a circuit to anything, it is simply connected to the wire from the mag. Button DOWN, the switch is CLOSED, and ground the magneto to rob the coil of the energy the magnets are supplying and stopping the motor. In this case, the guts of it run that energy to ground through the body of the switch to the chassis of teh tractor.

The single pole magneto-type switch cannot be used on a battery igntion.

The two-pole switch can be used with a magneto ignition, by running the ground wire from the magneto to one pole, and connecting the second pole by wire to a good ground. Operation will be the same, UP will run, DOWN will not.

You got your directions reversed Scotty

Just to clarify, the single pole magneto switch is CLOSED with the button IN. and open with the button OUT.

The two pole distributor switch is completely opposite! It is CLOSED with the button OUT, and OPEN with the button IN!

(quoted from post at 09:03:37 11/18/11)
Just to clarify, the single pole magneto switch is CLOSED with the button IN. and open with the button OUT.

The two pole distributor switch is completely opposite! It is CLOSED with the button OUT, and OPEN with the button IN!

Click to expand...

This is correct. Therefore, if you use a distributor switch on a magneto tractor, the button will be IN when the tractor is running, and OUT when you shut it off.

That makes perfect sense. It is a two pole switch. I will just wire it up with the ground. Thanks!